Justices, block this fraud

October 13, 2008

We don't yet know who tried to perpetrate a fraud on the people of Illinois by rigging the Nov. 4 vote on a constitutional convention. We do, though, know who can rescue this referendum question from whichever political insiders are guilty of this deceit: The seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court, if they move rapidly, can keep these would-be election thieves from getting their way.

Justices, the political players who tried to rig this vote -- and the election officials now playing into their hands -- want you to clear your throats, ruffle a few papers, but not make a meaningful ruling before Nov. 4 comes and goes.

We hope you don't give the schemers that supreme satisfaction.

Last week a Cook County judge, Nathaniel Howse Jr., properly ruled that the wording of the con-con question was "misleading and false." Someone had doctored that wording to discourage voters from demanding a convention to consider revising the constitution.

The con-con question has been revised and now is worded more fairly. That's good. But Judge Howse added a directive that will confuse many voters: At your polling place, you'll be handed a sheet of paper -- not a ballot -- that displays the new wording. Try to follow: You'll read the new wording on the sheet, but you'll still see the old wording on the ballot itself. You'll then mark the ballot with that original, flawed wording -- not the separate sheet with the proper wording -- to vote on the new language.

Imagine the chaos as election judges try to explain this bizarre right-hand-left-hand system to lengthening lines of people.

Some voters won't have the patience or the skill to deal with all this legalism.

Some will loudly vent their frustrations.

Some will give up and leave.

The Chicago Bar Association, one of several plaintiffs trying to find a way out of this maze, suggests a good solution: Hand voters a sheet with the new language and a place to vote on the call for a constitutional convention. Then have voters proceed to the regular, longer ballots to make their choices in all the candidate races and other ballot issues.

Last week the CBA and other plaintiffs asked appellate judges to embrace this more sensible remedy. But those three appellate judges for some reason have set a go-slow schedule. If their pokey itinerary plays out, look for those judges to toss up their hands and say, "Oops, too late to guarantee citizens a vote that's free of manipulation and free of tremendous confusion at the polls."

Chicago and Cook County election officials already have fallen into that trap. They don't want to be bothered -- even though plaintiffs at every step have moved as quickly as they could to accelerate the court process. The only reason this is landing in the courts so late is that the schemers kept quiet about their rigging of the ballot question.

There has to be a way, even if it's imperfect, to do right by voters.

There's hope: Some of the plaintiffs have asked the seven state Supreme Court justices to take this case on an expedited basis. That would leapfrog it over the appellate panel, whose members evidently don't grasp the urgency of this situation.

You could wallpaper the Supreme Court chambers with all the pro and con arguments filed in this case and have enough left over to burn the still unknown perpetrators of this scam at the stake. But the whole matter boils down to these two points:

* The people of Illinois are entitled to have their say on a constitutional convention free of the obstacles that schemers have tried to put in their way.

* As is, citizens risk having this vote voided after Nov. 4 when a court rules that it was just too convoluted. That could mean holding another election. What a waste.

Justices, please get involved. You have the power to do the best you can with circumstances not of your making -- and not of the plaintiffs' making. We clearly don't agree with all of Judge Howse's thoughts, but he had the courage to put the pure interests of voters first, and the procedural problems of election officials second.

Good for him. We trust you'll show the same courage. Justices, block this fraud.